


Afterlives

by flincher



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff maybe?, Hurt/Comfort, a dose of angst, by god we will give kora an arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26324869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flincher/pseuds/flincher
Summary: Post-s7, post-timeskip. When a window of opportunity arises for Daisy, Daniel, and Kora to take a little vacation from being astro ambassadors, they jump at the chance. But the past, ever so constant, catches up to them, no matter the timeline.
Relationships: Skye | Daisy Johnson & Kora, Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 16
Kudos: 73





	1. Memorial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisy has an itinerary for Daniel, and the first item involves a place she was always going to revisit.

Once the crew of Zephyr-3 got a rhythm going, it turned out that finding a suitable location for the Chronicoms’ new home was not so much a matter of dealing with the local flora and fauna, something Kora initially assumed. Though the refugees were quick to assure them that any craggy, frozen planet would do, Daisy had insisted on picking out one whose climate, terrain, and even wildlife skewed close to that of Chronyca-2. This was not the problem—many a planet would fit the bill, who knew? Instead, complications arose from the political consequences of dropping off the remnants of an entire race on some uninhabited rock. The better part of a year was spent scouting out and negotiating with potential neighbors, which typically ended in either an amicable breakdown of talks (if they were lucky) or orbital cannon fire (if they were not). 

It was frustrating, repetitive, and occasionally dangerous work. But it was work they were qualified for.

They did find a planet, eventually—lush and verdant, serenely lit by a singular sun, and, strangely, devoid of neighbors. It was cultivated in some regions, too, but whatever hands sculpted terraces into the mountainsides have long since vacated the planet for reasons unknown. Basically, paradise. When they beamed the data back, the Chronicoms agreed in an instant. They had a home. 

So for the first time in a year, Zephyr-3 found itself sailing back to Earth.

“I shudder to think of the paperwork,” Daniel remarked as the ship snuck under Jupiter’s shadow. “So many of them we’ve got to pull out of society...”

“Not our department,” Kora said. “We just had to find the planet. Director Mackenzie probably has some suits already on the relocation work.”

“Plus, all things considered, we’re ahead of schedule by a couple of months.” Daisy took a sip of coffee out of her mug. “The evacuation ships”—she gestured with her free hand at some approximate point on the star map where Europa should be—“aren’t due for completion until September.” 

She grinned. “I think we’ve earned ourselves a well-deserved vacation.”

After landing, the three of them made a beeline for their respective quarters. Mack had planned for an extensive debriefing session immediately upon their arrival (“The sooner we get through this, the sooner we can enjoy our break,” Daniel had said in a vain attempt to lift their spirits), but had to cancel to address some new undersea anomaly. A director’s work, it seems, was never done. The sisters then resolved to unwind immediately.

Daniel was exhausted. “I’m not ever getting used to landing,” he said. He had offered to carry Daisy’s luggage, too, a decision he was now beginning to slightly regret. Compared to the more uniform, gridlike Lighthouse, the Helicarrier’s corridors were far more labyrinthine, and the steadily returning sense of Earth’s gravity just made him more acutely aware of how much their bags weighed.

Kora groaned. “Me neither. My gut hasn’t realigned.”

“C’mon, we’ve done it countless times.” Daisy had adjusted best out of all of them, but then again, she hadn’t been carrying much.

“I know,” said Daniel. “Just… Earth gravity has a different pull to it.”

“The only pull I feel is the pull towards the nearest bed. I’m beat,” quipped Kora. “Meet you lovebirds later for dinner?” She didn’t wait for a reply, and bounded for a waiting elevator. The doors closed soon after, and it was just Daisy and Daniel alone again.

“Speaking of getting pulled out of society, someone”—Daisy poked her finger at her boyfriend’s chest—“has to do the exact opposite.”

“What, the six months wasn’t enough?” said Daniel.

“No! Hell, no. You spent half that time at the Academy catching up and readying for the long voyage. I had to _drag_ you out of there. Of course the six months wasn’t enough.”

“There was so much to read,” he conceded. “Alright, point taken. We’re going to have to come up with an itinerary.”

“Way ahead of you,” Daisy said. At this, she brought up her phone’s calendar app and turned the screen towards him, showing rows and rows of marked squares. Daniel brought his face closer to inspect. He squinted at the tiny, crammed font, so Daisy zoomed in. 

Evidently, a great deal of effort went into the planning of the list. The schedule covered everything from live games, sightseeing, city tours, and—though he was still gauging his music taste—even a few concerts. Upcoming birthdays were highlighted. There were days without plans, too, which Daisy had left blank for him to either fill out later or merely idle away. 

“I mean, it’s subject to your approval,” she said. A dash of pride found its way into her tone now. “And obviously, we’ll make space for whatever else you want, but I do have a draft.” 

Daniel laughed. “You’re the best.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“So. What’s this first thing?” He cocked his head at the first marked square, which was tomorrow’s date.

“It’s… not wholly a _you_ thing, sorry. We’ll get to that,” said Daisy. Turning one last corner, she found her assigned quarters and swiped a keycard. The interface let out an affirmative beep, and the metal door slid open. “I wanted to check up on Afterlife.”

“Oh.” Daniel leaned against the doorway. “No, I get it. Inhuman business. I’m guessing I’m not allowed.”

Daisy raised her eyebrow.

“I got access to some files about the team’s previous operations,” he continued. “2015? I read about it.”

“Read about the old rules, you mean. We don’t play by those anymore.” She took her bags from him and set them down beside the single bed. The room was tiny by SHIELD standards, furnished with only the simplest, most basic comforts, but it was hard to mind the meagerness of it all with a vacation just on the horizon. “You can come.”

“You sure? I don’t mean to impose.”

“I made the schedule,” Daisy said. “And you were there for me when I spoke to my mother. You’ll be fine.”

Daniel smiled, a little embarrassed.

“That’s kinda why we’re going, too,” Daisy added.

“She’s buried there, isn’t she?” said Daniel, realizing. “Yeah. Okay. Of course I’ll go.”

The three of them left for Afterlife early the next day, hitching a ride on a scheduled operation bound for the same place, and were over the coordinates before noon. Due to the secret nature of the Inhuman abode’s location, they were required to secure permissions to board the quinjet despite them technically being on leave. “And here I thought we’d be flying first class by now,” Kora said after the jet shuddered at a fresh wave of turbulence.

As usual, the quinjet cloaked as it descended towards the Nepalese mountains, though the clearing that served as their assigned landing spot was visibly outlined with a ring of tree stumps. The inhabitants at Afterlife had no doubt marked the location, and by now they had grown accustomed to, if not expectant of, the occasional visit from SHIELD.

“Same as yours?” Daisy asked her sister as the buildings came into view. 

“Bigger, but you’ve had time,” Kora replied. Unlike Daisy, she hadn’t been able to visit this Afterlife. Not that her sister hadn’t invited her on one of her trips, either. During the first few months upon their arrival to the timeline, it had been easy to chalk it up to hours of studies at the Academy and the awkward, ongoing affair of getting acclimated to modern times. However, as her schedule loosened up, the same excuses got flimsier. Eventually, she’ll have had to visit. During their last month in the far reaches of space, Kora made a promise to herself to do just that, and so here she was.

Disembarking went off without a hitch. The operation was a straightforward, albeit lengthy, supply run, entailing no combat or special diplomatic procedure. Already this was a change of pace for the three of them, and it was an easy decision on their part to put their boots on the ground and help out. 

Occasionally, Daisy shot a glance at Kora out of concern, and while she noticed her sister was tenser than usual, it was also clear that Kora’s SHIELD training had hardened her and made her more level-headed. When she privately concluded that Kora would manage just fine, she and Daniel broke off from the group of agents.

Over the next hour, Daisy made the rounds and checked in with the Afterlife staff. She asked about how things are going at the compound: any new Inhumans, changes in the day-to-day life (they’ve recently completed construction on a new building for temporary lodging), and other miscellaneous stories. She took another hour to speak with a terrified woman whom she heard was scheduled to undergo Terrigenesis the following day, leaving only when she was sure the woman was calmer. Daniel trailed behind her all the while, in his arms some blooms they brought for later.

“I said you could have left those in the quinjet, and we’d just come back for them,” Daisy said. “You’re not my pack mule.”

“Oh, leave me be, Quake,” Daniel winked. Daisy scoffed in mock offense—he only played the Q-Card when he was being cheeky. “I’ll be spoiled for _weeks_ with all you’ve planned. ‘Til then, allow me to be of use, dear.”

“Fine,” she said. “Anyway, I’m done. Let’s see the garden.”

Like with anything at Afterlife, the garden was a thing of unforced beauty. The Inhumans grew not just flowers, but produce as well, an entire swath of land devoted to crops. A number of gazebos were spaced out across the whole area for anyone craving shelter from the sun. There were spaces for exercise and meditation, too, most of them in use. Daniel Sousa had seen many things, but still he marvelled that any corner of the world could hide such a haven.

“It’s beautiful out here,” he said. “It’s so tranquil. To think we were out there, far beyond the stars, and you’ve had your people down here…” He sighed. “We should’ve come sooner.” 

“Oh, psh. The Chronicoms are friends, too. We were needed there.”

Daisy beckoned him over to a secluded part of the garden, past a line of flowering bushes and stone fencing that formed a kind of threshold between the main garden and this less-frequented area. Vegetation was not as abundant here; instead, headstones of varying heights and shapes were arranged neatly in rows to the left and right of the path. The pair walked past all these. They stopped only when they arrived at the center of the graveyard. 

Here, under a cherry tree, a single stone jutted out from the ground. The grass around it was trimmed and free of fallen leaves, suggesting that, despite the area not seeing much traffic, special attention had been taken to ensure that the space was always well-maintained. The rock itself was a meter wide and half as tall. It was largely unadorned too, save for two lines of characters engraved along one side. Daniel did not have to understand the script to know whose epitaph it was. 

“Jiaying.”

“Yeah,” Daisy sighed. Then, together, gently, they set down the vase of chrysanthemums in front of the headstone. Daisy knelt there, wordless. Daniel stayed with her. For a long while, only the whistling of the wind and the swaying of branches could be heard. The world, to them, had folded into just this: this cherry tree, this patch of grass, a headstone, a hand in another’s hand.

After a few minutes had passed, she gave his hand a little squeeze, a signal for them to stand. Daniel nodded. Daisy finally broke the silence as she rose.

“Hey, mom. It’s been a while,” she started. “I, uh, I’ve done a lot since… since everything. Dismantled HYDRA, fought killer robots. Went to space, fought aliens. Fought alien killer robots.” She chuckled. “Travelled through time, more than a couple of times. And then went back to space... Anyway, a lot.”

She heaved a sigh. “I think I know now how you felt back when we met. I spoke with you, or a _you before everything,_ and I understand. That you loved me, and _how_ you loved me. I’m sorry it took so long.” Her voice cracked. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save that you, either.”

Daniel drew closer, offering his shoulder to cry into, but she paused to wipe the tears forming and composed herself.

“I did save someone, though. Kora, my sister. I’m helping her through her new life. Hopefully, it is a better one.” A pause. “I’d like to think you can feel her presence. She’s not ready yet to come here, though—that will take some time. But that’s time we have. We’ll be back, I’m sure of it.”

“And,” Daisy said. “I have Daniel.” He wasn’t looking at her when she said it, but he knew she was smiling because he could hear it. 

“I love him,” she said, the words rolling out into the world like a breeze. “He’s... a square, but he’s my square. The team saved him, too, but I’d like to think he saves me also. He has my back, so no need for you to worry.”

Blushing, Daniel felt the heat in his ears, but stayed silent. He didn’t want to ruin the moment.

“Anyway, things to do. Love you, mom.” As if to punctuate that sentence, they began to hear distant sounds of activity. Agents were unloading supplies from the quinjet by now, probably. 

She turned to him. “Whew, well. Sorry. It all just rushed out.”

“No need to apologize.” He hugged her for a brief moment, and they began to walk back up the path, hands still linked. 

Daisy stopped him midway through. “There’s one more visit I’d like to make.”

They turned down one of the rows of headstones and paused at a more recent one, which was obvious in the lack of weathering. It was just one among many others, but that they even paused at this told Daniel that this was a special person. This time, the inscription on the headstone was in English. 

“If you’ve read about Jiaying, then you’ve read about him, too,” Daisy said. “Lincoln Campbell.”

“Ah.”

Daisy laid a small bouquet of lilies at the headstone. Daniel bowed his head in respect. He expected her to start talking, and she did, but her words were not directed towards the gravestone.

“I wanted you for this too, Daniel.”

“Why?” His tone carried no judgment.

“I could read about you,” she said. “I could pick up any book at the Academy library and nine times out of ten, I’d probably run into something there about you.” She doesn’t mention Peggy—she doesn’t have to. And she could tell he understood it in the way he just ever so slightly stiffened up.

She motioned at their surroundings. “Meanwhile, _this_ is a report locked behind some bogus clearance level. Unless you knew where to look, you wouldn’t know these about me. That doesn’t seem fair to you.”

Daniel pondered this for a while. “You’re right,” he said. “I haven’t considered that.”

“I’m letting you in, is all,” she said. “I hope I didn’t breach anything.”

“No, no, of course not,” he quickly reassured her, taking her hands in his. “This is a good thing. I appreciate it.”

The pair were interrupted by the sound of some steps behind them. They turned to look. It was Kora, a few rows away. It seemed like she had been there a while, and was waiting for a chance to come closer. 

“Hey!” she called, sounding serious and businesslike. “When you two are done, Agent Langton needs Daisy to double-check the stasis pods. I mean, I know we’re not officially on this mission, but it’d help if someone got a second look at the things.” 

“We’ll be there. We’re just about done,” Daniel called back. Kora nodded, and headed back half-marching towards the main compound.

“What’s up with her?” he asked. 

“Probably just getting used to being here at Afterlife. I could only imagine what she’s going through,” Daisy said. “Let’s go and get this done before sundown, and then we could rest. We fly out again tomorrow.”

Daniel smiled. “Right there with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I don't know yet how many chapters I'll put into this, but I do have a handful of ideas and a lot of love for them, so. Hope you enjoyed!


	2. Wise Men Say...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their trip continues with a day at the mall. The sisters have a conversation over drinks. Daniel has some tricks up his sleeve.

“You know what,” an exasperated Daisy said, handing Daniel her phone. “You’re the tallest. You do it.”

“What she said, Sousa,” Kora seconded. “Quickly!”

Daniel stretched his arm out and tilted the phone in search of a better angle. There wasn’t one.

“I can’t see a thing,” he said. “It’s against the li—”

“Oh, just press the button already!”

He pressed the capture button, letting the lens capture whatever was in-frame, lighting and composition be damned. Daisy snatched the phone back.

“How is it?” asked her sister.

“Pretty okay,” Daisy replied, which was true. All of them were in the shot, a testament to Daniel’s ever-improving photo-taking prowess. He looked especially dashing, too, but Daisy kept that to herself.

“Great,” Kora said, sitting back down. “I thought I was going to be sandwiched between you two until the food got here.”

It was a gorgeous, if humid, Sunday afternoon, the kind that you wished would stretch on and on to forever keep the weekdays at bay. The three were seated outdoors at a cafe and were waiting for their orders, having been out all day at a mall located under the shadow of a theme park they visited yesterday. 

The shopping had been mostly for Kora and Daniel. Skipping timelines without packing clothes had limited their outfit choices severely. It didn’t help that SHIELD loaned them with the most boring options for civilian wear, either. Aside from some items that Daisy had gifted them in an attempt to ameliorate their wardrobe situation, the two had predictably stuck to the standard-issue stuff—Kora because she simply did not want to go out to buy clothing; Daniel because he was Daniel—so Daisy tacked a shopping trip onto the itinerary at the first possible date. 

Kora rummaged through their array of shopping bags as the food arrived, reassessing her own purchases and judging Daniel’s. Between the two of them, Daisy thought Kora was harder to find clothes for. Daniel was a far more manageable case. While he constantly had to step out of the dressing room to ask for his girlfriend’s opinion, the bulk of his choices happened to be quite sensible. Denim jeans were a no-brainer, as were shirts, and he was more than capable of picking out ties for himself. Occasionally, he would go for prints, but they were versatile enough, and it was hard to deny how good he looked in them. Daisy only had to recommend a few other basics, notably some activewear and one killer of a leather jacket, to fill out his needs. Not bad for someone she had once labelled an unfashionable square.

Her sister, on the other hand, was from the _eighties_.

“Give it a rest,” said Daisy between bites of a chicken wrap. “That blazer you wanted was overly bold and tacky, and you know it.” 

“Coward,” Kora retorted. “You wouldn’t let me go for color, you wouldn’t let me go for black—”

“Correction: all-black. In the middle of _July_.”

“Says the one who ran around playing vigilante dressed like a goth,” Kora bit back.

Daisy nearly choked on the bread. “Hey, it was a phase!”

Kora grumbled. She had gravitated towards the fashion of her era, or more accurately, the _idea_ of the fashion of her era as viewed by someone who grew up tucked away in the Nepalese highlands away from the rest of civilization. There was neon for _days_ , and anything that wasn’t a screaming lightshow went the exact opposite direction: dark leather. Whether intentional or not, Kora’s rebellious streak had extended to this. With some convincing she was able to keep a handful of items that she had picked out herself, but first Daisy had heaped upon her some florals that, by her own begrudging admission, looked okay.

Daniel chuckled to himself, shaking his head. Over the course of the year they had spent in space, he learned that it was unwise to get in the way of the sisters’ bickering. 

“I’m an adult,” Kora said. “I shouldn’t have to be subject to this.”

“And _I’m_ paying,” Daisy continued. “That’s that.”

“Right there, you sounded just like mom,” Kora sighed, bowing her head just enough to hide her expression beneath waves of hair. And what was that in her tone—disappointment? Annoyance? Or was this reading too much into a mere joke? Daisy couldn’t tell. 

Kora scarfed down the last few bites of her own sandwich as fast as she could, and then drained a glass of juice in a few long gulps. “I’m heading to a bar. See you later,” she said, rising and walking off, not sparing the table even a backwards glance. She turned a corner and was gone.

“You’re going to follow her, aren’t you?” Daniel asked Daisy once he was sure Kora was beyond earshot. 

“Yeah. If anything, that was an invitation.”

“I’ll take our haul back to the hotel, then.” Daniel was already moving the bags to his side of the table.

“But the bill,” Daisy protested.

He shrugged. “I’ll handle it. Go.”

“We might take a while.”

“Everything’s within walking distance, so that won’t be a problem.” Daniel said. “It’s really alright. I can join you right after, if you’ll have me.”

“Fine.” Daisy drained her own glass of water. “Keep in touch.”

The bar wasn’t hard to find. It was a livelier spot compared to its more subdued neighbors, an ice cream parlor and a fine dining restaurant, and those were both closing for the night anyway. People hung around outside the bar, mostly in groups, no doubt enjoying the drinks and each others’ company as another weekend trickled by. Daisy made her way inside.

The interior of the place was warm, and pockets of golden light broke up an otherwise dim space. There were also more people inside, and every table was occupied. A pop song played over the speakers, but the sound of overlapping chatter drowned it out. Behind the counter, a visibly focusing bartender mixed drinks like clockwork. In front of him was a familiar woman. Daisy squeezed through the throng of people towards the adjacent vacant seat and sat down.

“Beer?” She raised her eyebrow at her sister’s drink of choice.

“I ask the bartender to open it in front of me. Harder to spike,” Kora explained, the faintest smile on her lips. She took a swig out of the bottle, then exhaled in satisfaction. “I’m not _that_ irresponsible.”

“I know,” Daisy said. “Just looking out for you.”

“Technically, I should be the one doing the looking out. I’m older.”

“By date of birth, maybe.” Daisy raised her hand and beckoned the bartender over, then motioned at Kora’s drink and mouthed _one, please_ when she caught his attention. “But age-wise? I think I am.”

The bartender set down a coaster, popped off the cap, then set the already-perspiring beverage down before moving to the other end of the counter to take another patron’s order. Daisy took a sip. The drink was fizzy and smooth, and there was a note of fruitiness to it that she didn’t expect. It wasn’t citrusy. Apple, she thought.

“Anyway,” she continued. “What’s up? You’ve been antsy for a week.”

“Since Afterlife, yeah.” Kora set aside her now-empty bottle. “Now that I’ve managed to tear you away from Sousa for a bit, I guess I could talk about that.”

“You faked a tantrum for this, so yes, you should.”

“I couldn’t bring myself to be anywhere near mom’s… no. That’s not it.” Kora sighed, cutting herself off before she could lie. “Before I called you guys back that day, I had to walk past all the other gravestones... then I saw it. I stopped in my tracks.”

The timeline-displaced Inhuman looked her sister in the eyes, nothing to hide. “I saw my grave, Daisy. I mean, not _me_ , but you get it.” Her voice quivered, but she kept her tone level.

Daisy felt like a stone dropped somewhere deep inside her. “Oh.”

“Yeah. And you know how I—she went out. It wasn’t pretty,” Kora said, choosing her words with care, wanting to get the conversation over with as much as she wished to give voice to her uneasiness. “I shouldn’t feel indebted, but if not for Malick… I don’t know. It’s complicated.”

“I’m sorry.” 

“Yeah. Well. Don’t be. I was bound to run into that sooner or later. I’m working my way through it, I guess. Coming to terms with… existing. Just taking a bit to get myself together after literally coming face-to-face with _that_.”

“I know. And I shouldn’t be dragging you around if you don’t feel like it,” Daisy offered. “If you want to go off and do your own thing for a little while, I’d be cool with that. Sousa would understand.”

“Oh, you softie. I’m not that _fragile_ , either.” Kora let herself laugh. "But thanks. I’ll consider it. My closet will be blinding, and you can’t stop me.”

Daisy gave her a smile, relieved. She felt the tension dissipate around them. It was like tremors fading. 

“Sorry I compared you to mom,” her sister said after a while.

She shrugged. “Honestly? It’s a fair point. Did you know someone prophesied I’d lead the Inhumans?” Daisy called the bartender again for Kora, and he served the same drink.

“Alright, no bragging,” Kora said. “Anyway, I didn’t just come here so we could talk. I also came here so we could enjoy some drinks without Sousa looking over our shoulders every minute.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.”

“Please.”

Daisy raised her bottle. “To second life?”

Kora reciprocated the gesture. “To second life.”

The trip to the bar did not last very long after that, which was not as long as Daisy would have liked. Those two bottles turned out to be their last for the evening. Daisy knew her tolerance well enough, but either her sister was a complete lightweight or the beers were deceptively strong, because Kora’s cheeks had gone all rosy midway through that last round. They paid for their drinks then and there, trusting their better judgment, and walked back to the hotel.

The two women made their way through the lobby, mustering their best impressions of their sober selves, and clambered into the elevator. “Well, that was convincing,” Daisy said once they were alone. A memory of space puffs with Simmons flashed in her mind, and she grinned.

They parted ways once they reached their floor, each retiring to their respective room. While on this trip, they had taken up the practice of booking two separate rooms, one for Kora and another for Daisy and Daniel. Kora also preferred her room separated by a certain distance from the lovers’—near enough that they could reach each other swiftly in an emergency, and far enough that she would never have to hear _anything._

“Daniel, I trust you,” she had said after Daniel insisted on adjacent rooms. “But if I have to listen to you bawl at, I don’t know, Bridge to Terabithia...”

“Okay, okay! You win,” said the embarrassed agent, and the matter was settled.

Thus, Daisy walked alone back to her shared room, eager to collapse into a mattress. She could already predict the hangover she was going to have in the morning, if the phantom voices she heard were anything to go by. Or… no, wait, she thought. Those weren’t in her head.

That was a song.

Alert, Daisy approached the door with a newfound curiosity. It was music, alright, unmistakable in the relative silence of the hallway. She snuck inside slowly, quietly.

She was greeted by the sight of Daniel, standing in some absurd stance, in the middle of the room. His back was turned to her; he did not notice her enter. The music, it seemed, was playing from a nearby stereo, hooked to his own phone. Daisy felt suddenly mischievous, as if she had barged into something she shouldn’t have.

“Sousa,” she called.

“Daisy!” Daniel jumped, and swung around to face her. His face turned beet-red. “Didn’t expect you back again so soon. How’d it go?”

“She’s fine, I’m fine, we’re both good.” Then: “What’s all this?”

An alibi formed at the tip of Daniel’s tongue, but he could tell from Daisy’s look that she’d call any bluff he came up with. 

“It’s… not… nothing.” He sighed. “I was going to surprise you.”

Daisy’s ears picked up the strains of Elvis playing. Her expression turned from bewilderment to amusement. “Sousa, were you dancing?”

In response, he crossed the room to her and took her hands. He guided her slowly to the center of the room in a waltz of sorts, easing them into a steady rhythm. “I heard this song came out just five years after the team plucked me out of LA,” he said. “Not gonna lie, I’m feeling kinda cheated here.”

To his credit, Daniel moved like he knew exactly what he was doing. His steps were certain but not mechanical; his grip secure but not heavy. The word _graceful_ came to mind. Daisy couldn’t help but sway along. “Is this your first time?” she said, impressed.

“I got pretty good right before the war,” he sighed. “Just out of practice.”

“Doesn’t seem that way.”

“YouTube. A goldmine, that website.” One spin more and they’re face to face again, breaths intermingling.

“It was going to be a surprise,” he continued, imbuing the last word with half-regret. “But… this is better. Trying to mime it is a poor substitute.”

“When—”

“Zephyr-3. Remember that one time everyone went down to Kitson and I said I must have eaten something bad and stayed behind?”

Daisy frowned. “I just didn’t take you for the clubbing type.”

“Or that one time I was sure a flerken was loose in the walls and spent a day going through everything?” A step here, a slide there, and their positions reset.

“Or when you were so certain you got some weird skin allergy from an alien cactus and had to lock yourself in a room for a whole day,” she said, piecing it together. “Why, Daniel Jordan Sousa. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“I had help,” he stated smugly. “The medical staff were in on it the third time. Had to get crafty.”

“You know, agent,” she said. “Falsified medical records count as a punishable offense.”

“Oh, I know. That’s why we never logged those in,” he said. “Anyway, I can take a strike on my spotless record if it’s for you, honey.”

There was something in the way Daniel said that last sentence—tentatively at first, a boyish look in his eyes, as if catching a secret slip out of him but deciding to let the words spill out anyway, then with mounting earnestness, so that by the time he got to _honey_ (god, the term was almost antiquated, but she knew it wasn’t beyond him) the word landed with all intent—that disarmed Daisy for a moment, and she nearly tripped. She yelped.

Daniel caught her. He held on to both arms as she steadied herself. “Whoa, whoa, alright. You okay?”

“Yeah. Probably the beer,” Daisy said. A half-truth. She sat down on the bed. 

“Sure. Enough dancing, then.” Daniel settled down beside her. He studied her face, concerned. There was a redness to Daisy’s cheeks, though he couldn’t tell if she was blushing or if it was from the liquor she had imbibed.

There was a smile on her face, too, one that broke into a wider grin as she met his gaze. Soon, she found herself laughing. Not at any one thing in particular, she thought, but at the entire situation. So not just at Daniel’s planning, not just at their dancing, not just at her own clumsiness. Not just at the fullness of her own heart in that moment.

Perhaps she was a little more than tipsy.

Daniel laughed along now, warm and full and unsuppressed. It was easy—effortless, even—to go along into Daisy’s joy, to meet her where she was. After a while, when their laughter finally subsided, their gazes remained. It was Daisy who broke them out of their shared reverie. 

In one swift motion, she went in for a kiss.

Some part of Daniel had expected it. By now, they’ve been together long enough for him to know just how impulsive Daisy could be. Still, no matter how much he could claim he saw it coming, it was simply easier for him to lose himself in the thrill of it, especially when the kiss was this urgent, this breathless, this heat-of-the-moment, hands-at-his-collar intentional. 

He met the hunger in the kiss with his own want, surprising himself with how much of it he had.

They broke off after a moment. Daniel gulped, his heart racing. “Is this still the beer?”

Daisy frowned. “Hm. I don’t think so,” she said, words slurred. “I think it’s your face.” Then, one more kiss, briefer this time, but just as sweet. 

“Thank you for this,” Daisy said as she moved to rest her head on Daniel’s lap. “I enjoyed it.”

She fell asleep not long after, and her dreams were suffused with a certain melody, half-sung and half-whispered.

  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if it took a while! I've outlined some more chapters for myself, so I know where this is headed. I've also fixed the tags (I'm an utter novice at this) and will be adding more as I go. Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> The next chapter will touch on the events of Agent Carter. The song in this one, of course, is Can't Help Falling In Love.


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